Julian Lennon and Stephen Emmer Collaborate on Charity Holiday Single “Sleep for England”
Julian Lennon has made a welcome contribution to the list of 2014 Christmas charity singles with “Sleep for England,” written by Dutch composer Stephen Emmer and produced by Tony Visconti. Charity songs that raise awareness and funds for social issues during the holiday season are a British tradition — a tradition that includes his father, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono’s iconic “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” and Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas.”
“Sleep for England” was first released on Emmer’s 2014 International Blue, described as an “orchestral chamber pop album that showcases some of the finest baritone singers currently in the UK.” Originally sung by Neil Crossley, the re-worked holiday version of “Sleep” — now featuring Lennon — is dressed up for the season, complete with sleigh bells and a Christmas choir. Julian Lennon’s powerful and distinctive voice is lush and expressive, and the lyrics and accompanying video imagery highlight the plight of Britain’s less fortunate.
The proceeds from the single will go to Lennon’s charity the White Feather Foundation, which focuses on bringing clean water and sanitation to the nearly 1.2 billion people who lack these basic needs. The Foundation’s name has special significance for Julian. As he describes on his website, “Dad once said to me, that should he pass away, if there was some way of letting me know he was going to be ok — that we were all going to be ok — the message would come to me in the form of a White Feather. Then something happened to me, whilst on tour with the album, Photograph Smile, in Australia. I was presented with a White Feather by an Aboriginal tribal elder, from the Mirning people, which definitely took my breath away…Having had the White Feather bestowed upon me, I knew this endeavour was to be part of my destiny.”
Last week, REBEAT spoke with composer Stephen Emmer about the International Blue project and his work with Lennon.
REBEAT: What appealed to you most about creating International Blue and collaborating with Julian Lennon?
STEPHEN EMMER: My starting point [for International Blue] was to write songs that went somewhere rather then repeat itself for most of the time. The song [“Sleep for England”] is an adventure that strikes you as normal and accessible. Yet under the hood, you hear lots of hidden complicated things like, for example, a more surprising mid-section or a more adventurous intro. It helps when you work with people who know exactly what you’re talking about, and I found those with the likes of Midge Ure, Julian Lennon, Glenn Gregory, and Tony Visconti. Together we, I think, realized a combination of the best song qualities of yesteryear with modern production values.
And to really carry these songs you need dramatic vocals and the singers on the album all have that quality I think. Same for Julian, who told me he never sang that low before, and yet he did a very wonderful job. I thought his voice, but also his vision on the world, would suit the song we did together perfectly, and I was really happy he instantly felt what I meant and agreed to work on it together in a whim.
Are there any particular White Feather Foundation projects you’re particularly looking forward to boost with the proceeds from the single?
Next to the musical collaboration, what really appealed to me was the concern of his foundation with the quality of drinking water worldwide. It’s not “sexy;” it’s basic, and it’s essential, yet so many people are still deprived of it. So that is why I proposed to let the proceeds go there.
The imagery in the video is mesmerizing and quite eclectic — what’s the vision behind it?
As the nature of the song is a social commentary in its lyrical content and musical atmosphere, I thought it to be only fitting not to do a glossy, glamourous clip, but rather one that reflects the music and lyrics best, and that is with images of typical underprivileged people such as the elderly in wintertime; the urban people in poverty; the sadness being drunk away in pubs in the last decades; post industrial landscapes now desolate (Sheffield Steel, for example) and the general state modern Britain is in today with all its issues concerning healthcare, the Scotland attempt for autonomy, etc. The clip is really a collage of images that ‘show reality in a fairytale time during the festivities of the end of the year All in all, the intention was to think for a moment about the humanitarian problems in the nation, in the world, next to having your own, well deserved, Christmas party.
“Sleep for England” and International Blue are available now, and the deluxe edition of Blue will be released on January 26, 2015.
Julian Lennon can also be found on another 2014 charity single, a cover of the Farm’s “All Together Now” (1990). “All Together Now” was produced by the Justice Collective (responsible for 2012’s Christmas #1 single) and raises funds for the British Red Cross and the Shorncliffe Trust.
